Counting the Days
by chanceof-rain
Summary: [Life with Derek] It's Lizzie's last night until she goes off to college, but she just can't handle not telling Edwin how she really feels. LizzieEdwin. One shot.


Hello! This is just a quick one-shot that was just bugging the heck out of me in my mind between Lizzie & Edwin. It's Lizzie's last day before going off to college ... So here you go!

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek._

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Lizzie sat on her bed with her arms crossed across her chest as she stared at the packed boxes stacked and scattered along her floor. Tonight was her last night in the house before she would go off to the University of Pennsylvania. College was indeed, a scary thought, but Lizzie had learned that moving to new places wasn't always a bad thing. Take moving into the Venturi household, for example. She'd admit that it was extremely troublesome, especially with Derek and Casey quarreling 99 percent of the time. It was interesting that it took them years to learn how to work with each other and they still managed to find a way to bug each other to death. However, it didn't take as long for her and Edwin to become allies.

Lizzie stood up, shaking her head after her thoughts dwindled to Edwin. Thinking about him was so difficult because he made her feel things that she could never truly explain. Her idea of logic never worked with him. Lizzie walked out of the room and to the game closet in order to get her mind off of things. She considered playing a game of Boggle before going to bed. However, instead of getting her mind off of Edwin, the complete opposite happened.

As Lizzie stood in the game closet, thousands of memories of Edwin and her poured into her mind. It never dawned on her that she would ever feel this way about him. Their countless missions as young children against their older siblings and their numerous talks as teenagers to get over heartbreaks. No one understood Lizzie more than Edwin, and vice versa.

Lizzie's eyes began to water as she thought of the fact that she was leaving the next morning. It was hard for her to understand why it hurt so much to even think about saying goodbye, so she left the closet and stood in front of Edwin's door.

She stood there for a few seconds, contemplating on what she was doing. Instead of knocking, Lizzie walked into his room, startled to see Edwin in the middle of putting his shirt on.

"I'm sorry," Lizzie mumbled, blushing profusely as she kept her eyes fixed on the floor.

Edwin stammered and quickly put his shirt on, "Oh, no. It's fine, really. You alright?"

"Honestly? Not really."

"Don't worry, you're not the only one on the boat," Edwin sat on his bed, his back against the headboard as he motioned for Lizzie to sit next to him.

She sat next to him and hugged one of his pillows, "I don't want to go anymore."

"To Penn? Sure you do, it'll be a blast," he said, trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

"Yeah, but that means no more Casey, or Marti, or Mom."

"Or Derek or dad."

"Or you," Lizzie stated bluntly, still holding his pillow to her chest.

"Or me. I'll miss you, you know that, right?"

She nodded her head, "I'll miss you, too."

Edwin took his chance to lean down and kiss her lightly, his arm moving awkwardly around Lizzie's waist. She surprised them both by kissing back with a little more fire than he had expected. With years of waiting, the kiss between them both symbolized all they had felt throughout time. It wasn't a kiss that had sparked sudden fireworks or shooting stars, but it was one that had slowly brought the beauty out of the sunset. Edwin smiled against her lips and pulled back to kiss her forehead, leaving a smile on Lizzie's face as well. She put her arms around him as he combed his fingers through her hair, keeping her head placed perfectly under his chin.

"I don't think I want to let you go," Edwin whispered truthfully.

Lizzie nodded her head, "Then don't."

She fell asleep in his arms and he in hers. It was almost like those moments you saw only in the movies. But unlike those moments, it had to end sooner or later. Edwin nudged for her to wake up, walking her to her own room so that their parents wouldn't wake up and find them lying together on his bed. He didn't want either of them to get in trouble, so instead he waited for her to fall back asleep in her own room before going back. He sat as his desk, wrote a letter to Lizzie and put it in her bag before sleeping.

The next morning, Nora and George drove Lizzie to the airport at 6 in the morning to catch her flight. She didn't say goodbye to the rest of the family because she knew it would be too hard. As Lizzie sat on the plane ride, she wished that she could have said goodbye to Edwin and the rest of them and sighed. She ravaged through her backpack for a stick of gum and found a letter instead. When she opened it, she was glad to have found that it was Edwin's chicken scratch.

_Dearest Lizzie,_

_There's so much that I could say at this very moment and so much that I could do. It's going to be difficult living in this house without you. There'll be no one to help me keep the sanity! I hope that you have a great time in Pennsylvania and adapt to everything smoothly. I know that it's difficult for you, but just remember that you can always come back for the holidays. Until then, take care of yourself (not that I have any doubt that you can). I'll be counting the days._

_Your Partner In Crime,  
Edwin._

Lizzie smiled and placed the letter in her pocket, feeling better knowing that she wasn't the only one who would be counting the days.

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Did you like it? Its really cheesy, but that was my intention. Haha.  
- Lina. 


End file.
